In my mind’s eye, it went down like this: “Amber? You want us to develop an Exclusif focused on amber?” I picture four or five people around an ebony table in a taupe-tinted room with black moldings — the board room version of a Chanel suit.
“You did it with patchouli,” the executive says. “No one smells Coromandel and thinks of Woodstock.”
“Not at that price,” the intern mutters.
“With Coromandel, we had a touchstone,” one of the fragrance team says. “Mademoiselle’s Coromandel panels. They represented what we were to create. Amber is so, so—”
“Banal,” someone says. "And loud."
“People like amber,” the executive replies sternly. “Our Exclusif line lacks one. Besides, we have a touchstone here, as well. Coco’s astrological sign was le lion. We will call the fragrance Le Lion de Chanel. Lions are amber-colored.”
“And loud,” the intern adds beneath her breath.
The executive stands and snaps his briefcase shut. “Run with it.”
Le Lion de Chanel was developed by house perfumer Olivier Polge, and includes notes of lemon, bergamot, cistus labdanum, vanilla, sandalwood, musk and patchouli.
Amber can be demanding. In doses high enough to nudge a perfume’s needle from “oriental” to “amber-focused,” amber can sit heavily enough to suffocate anything a perfumer might add to ease personality from the note. (If you doubt me, spend half an hour in a room with an amber candle. You’ll want to powerwash your nostrils.) For me, what works is amping amber’s connection to the sea with iodine-like saffron, or with notes reminiscent of salt and sand as in Hermès Eau des Merveilles. Or, go all in and give the amber a strong friend, like sandalwood, as in Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan.
Chanel chose to balance amber’s “grabby” side with a generous dose of lemon. Le Lion’s lemon is more than a quick citrus opening — it is amber’s equal partner at least halfway through the fragrance’s duration on my skin. As the lemon settles, amber turns it sepia-gold. Labdanum complements the amber but gives it some breathing room. Especially in the beginning, the amber smells leathery, and I understand how it might evoke both big cats and Leos.
Le Lion has generous sillage and lasts from breakfast through dinner, no problem. And the amber never dies. Sometimes it’s sharper than others, and sometimes it seems to relax into a sort of amber-tea, but it persists. A non-animalic musk cushions the amber as it fades.
Although the lemon-amber pairing works, and, as a plus, gives the fragrance an androgynous feel, it runs Le Lion into a big fat problem. This problem’s name is Shalimar. Guerlain Shalimar owns the lemon-amber pairing. Sure, Le Lion is more spare and presents a flush of musk in its dry down, but old lady Shalimar with her floral bosom and hint of civet makes Le Lion look like an Ikea bookshelf in an 18th-century chateau library.
Worn side by side, after the lemon has faded, the two fragrances are still clearly kin. Shalimar shows its baroque side with a touch of vanilla, and Le Lion’s more contemporary musk steps up, but the DNA between the two is irrefutable.
Would I wear Le Lion if a bottle appeared on my dresser? Of course I would. But, given my budget, for a lemon-amber hit, I’d stick with Shalimar, Carthusia Ligea La Sirena, or even Etro Shaal Nur, if I could get my hands on a bottle.
Le Lion de Chanel is available in 75 ml ($200) and 200 ml ($350) Eau de Parfum.
I do not really like modern Shalimar. I have the vintage EDC, which I love. Hmm. I am still mad at Chanel regarding decanting services and I smelled all the fancy ones at a Chanel boutique in Northern Virginia and then they changed them. I think this company is still on my stinky list. P.S. I love No.5 in all iterations and No. 19 and Pour Monsieur, so all the working class Chanels….
I also love Bois des Iles and Cuir de Russie, but my versions are a few years old at the very least. My guess is if you don’t like modern Shalimar, you might not end up a huge fan of Le Lion, but who knows?
For what it’s worth I detest Shalimar but adore Le Lion
Good input, thanks! I’m sure you’re not alone.
YES! I was about to comment to say the same thing. (Well, perhaps “adore” would be too strong. I enjoy le Lion.)
I have a decant of Le Lion and I didn’t find the link between Shalimar and Le Lion until I did the side by side. They are similar and wouldn’t classify either one of them as a very feminine perfume, but to me, they are both very sexy. In terms of longevity and how heavy you spray, both have the lasting power, in my opinion. One will just empty you wallet out more than the other..
This is a great review and your introduction made me chuckle.
At the end of the day Shalimar is my queen.
I’m glad you enjoyed the review, and thanks for your side-by-side insight, too! I, too, love my Shalimar.
I love it, and great comparison L2SG! Thanks! I do see you as the Shalimar Queen. 😀
“Banal,” Coumarin says. “And loud.”
What wall were you a fly on? ?
I’m excited to try this as it’s getting a lot of love. And I do enjoy a touch of Shalimar parfum from time to time but amber is usually much too boring for me. Even the legendary Amber Sultan is a little dull to me, though I’m sure that would have been less true twenty years ago when it was launched. I’ll report back!
I look forward to reading your input!
Hmmm. I’d love to get amber and lemon. But I get leather and a bit of band-aids all day. Classy leather and band-aids but not for me.
I know what you mean about the band-aids effect, and to me that’s the lemon plus amber that fires it up. I get it in Shalimar, too. But, as you say, classy band-aids!
Classy leather and bandaids. Snort!
I’d totally wear something that smells like “classy leather and bandaids”.
Maybe you should give this one a try!
Hopefully, I’ll get that rather than lemon and amber. The lemon combo doesn’t sound bad, but leather and bandaids sounds much more interesting to me.
I am a sucker for amber and labdanum…so no surprise, I like Le Lion:). I love your description of the board meeting lol. It totally went down like that haha. “Lions are amber colored ..and loud.” Lol:).
I’m glad you liked it! I figure we all could use a laugh these days.
Most definitely!?
I guess we all know who the intern was. ?
I may be a Leo, but Le Lion doesn’t coo or whisper softly to me. For lack of an older version of Shalimar, I could get my amber fix elsewhere, although I’ve come to realise that over the years amber as a note has lost much of its sparkle for me.
Amber doesn’t transfix me as much as it used to, either. I completely sympathize. That said, when I want Shalimar, nothing else will (or can) do.
I almost peed myself from laughing when reading this imaginary meeting at Chanel.
Thank you for the review Angela. For me Les Exclusifs are usually a miss dueto their poor longevity. Still I like a few and would very much like to try Le Lion but considering that there’s only one place in Poland where one can smell it, it’s far from where I live and we are in the middle of lockdown, I don’t think I will try it anytime soon. But I’m good at waiting so one day it’s gonna happen.
Le Lion has terrific longevity! That said, it’s not worth exposing yourself to COVID for.
I agree, Lucasai, that most of the exclusifs suffer from longevity issues. I have Bois des Iles, from half a decade ago or so, and it lasts just fine on me, but not stellar, and certainly not at Shalimar levels. (Although my bottle of Shalimar is OLD; more recent formulations don’t last quite as long.) For me, Le Lion is about the same longevity as BdI.
I have a decant from the great La Haj, and I thought of it as a contemporary take on Shalimar without the vanilla, which is now ever present in so many fragrances. I like it And the fact that you put this on pulse points and the scent lasts all day is a bonus.
I yelled at the opening- this sound all too familiar to me in terms of business briefs! 🙂
I”m glad I’m not the only one who saw the Le Lion-Shalimar family resemblance! And here’s to fewer business briefs.
This made me laugh lots! Love the snarky intern “not at that price…” ?
Have a sample arriving soon – have heard so much about the lion and am super curious.
I’d love to know what you think of it!
Have not sniffed Le Lion, but I imagine that meeting differently:
All the woman are dressed in those fabric jackets with the the chains, but, unlike me- they wear the “real ones” with the chains on the inside so the jacket hangs perfectly. Unlike me, they wear the jackets “ironically” with boxer shorts, or patchwork skirts or whatever the latest couture concoction was walked down Channel’s most recent Zoom runway.
The meeting however is run by a white man.
“You want an exclusiff focused on Amber?” He says dubiously. Last week someone had proposed an iris-oud scent.
“You did it with Patchouli. No one smells Cormondel and no one thinks of Woodstock.”
The intern discretely googles images of Woodstock, to figure out the reference. She sees a toon bird associated with “Peanuts” but no advertisements linking the graphic with Cormandel. This confirms that any marketing effort between Channel and Woodstock was a failure. Best, however, to raise a key point.
“The price for Amber molecules are quite satisfactory compared to orris, as required by the scent suggested last month. At the exclusiff sell through price, this could produce an exceptional rate of return.”
“Banal” someone says, “and Loud”
“People like Amber,” the intern says “Selling an amber perfume at as part of the exclusiff line will help distinguish our Amber from those of our competitors, some of which are now being marketed through the internet discount channels. It may even bring potential buyers into brick and mortar chains of distribution to test sample.”
(The intern has never actually been in a brick and mortar department store, and does not realize sniffing is no longer allowed at counters; but she is aware that the boomers in the room are sentimental and need to be humored about this archaic distribution system).
The intern continues:
” With many people working from home and going out only in small groups, “loud” is no longer a detriment; it is, according to our latest market based statistics, an advantage; buyers are no longer worried about offending the fragrance-phobic. And those who are going to pay a premium price for a perfume are going to want others to smell it as a way of signaling superior wealth. Thus, an amber focussed scent would enable us to expand into the amber based market which we do not currently occupy, and doing so as an exclussiff would provide market separation from our potential competitors and yield an increased rate of return.”
The Executive orders “Run with It.” He turns to the intern and says “You have identified the key point of a fragrance launch: Marketing and profit opportunities. Call my assistant regarding a permanent position.”
The intern smiles subserviently.
That’s hilarious! You really nailed the “business speak,” and I especially appreciated the reference to Woodstock and the Peanuts comics!
I love proper big ambers, like Ambre Russe, Ambre Précieux, Ambre Sultan and Ambre 114. From reading a lot of peoples comments on Le Lion, I thought it was mostly vanilla. I’ll be interested to try it, but I doubt I will be smitten.
Besides, nothing can really replace Shalimar.
Out of interest: have you ever tried Histoires de Parfums 1740 (the Marquis de Sade)? It has one of the best amber dry downs.
And like everyone else: I loved the description of the board room meeting!
I know I’ve tried Marquis de Sade, but it’s been so long that I can’t remember it. I’m going to dig through my box of samples and see if I can find it! (Also, Ambre Précieux is a favorite of mine, too.)
Same for me. Love Ambre Russe. One big honking amber. Shalimar is pretty meh for me. My mother wore it well. But of course she had the real item.
The one I have from the Exclusive line is Coromandel. It’s maybe five years old. I got it when the 75 ml was still $100. Or a $125. But $200!!!
I know! The prices!
Love 1740 and Ambre Russe and Ambre Sultan. Haven’t sniffed the others. Also love Le Lion, so ?♀️ you might surprise yourself. Or not! And that might be best for the pocket book. One of these days I’ll learn the lesson to not sample expensive juice.
But the expensive ones are so tempting!
Fantastic review Angela! Love the snarky intern “not at that price” comment. And so true.
Le Lion is getting a lot of love on the fragrance boards and while I love amber and labdanum (and patchouli), newer Chanel releases just haven’t worked very well for me. The latest release that I loved and was FB-worthy was Coromandel. And it was Tama who introduced me to that one. 🙂
Beige and Misia are enjoyable, but once I’ve finished my decants, I won’t repurchase.
I’m with stinker_kit, I’m more working-class Chanel gal. The older formulations of No. 5, No. 19, and No. 22 in edc or edt all work far better on my skin. I’ve got enough of those to last a lifetime.
Wonderful review!
I like the old Chanels best (so far), too. I don’t know how they fare market-wise, except for No. 5, which has rocket fire of history and marketing behind it, but I do love my Cuir de Russie.
Now I AM curious about Le Lion! Shalimar was an acquired taste and I still need to be in a certain mood, but Ligea was an instant – and is an enduring – love…
If you can get your hands on a sample, why not?
Fantastic review. Thanks for the laugh. While I see the connections between them, they are still very different to my nose and not interchangeable. Love both! But, I only have a contemporary formulation of Shalimar.
There are so many Shalimars out there, true! I compared against Shalimar Extrait that’s probably at least 10 years old (but carefully kept).
Hilarious review. My interns were all experts not only at snark but also at eye-rolls.
I may hunt up a sample but would never blind buy after this review. Thanks Angela!
It’s always worth sampling first! I hadn’t read any Le Lion reviews before I wrote this one, so I didn’t know it was such a favorite. Still, I guess no perfume can be everyone’s favorite.
very funny! and I’m a bit wary of Chanel releasing an amber as a next move after the musk of 1957. I adore their blended and highly original creations and hopefully they’re not going to change path too much. But since I’m a Leo, I can’t wait to try Le Lion and thanks to this review will test it side by side with Shalimar. And btw. I always perceived Shalimar more as a lemon-vanilla than lemon-amber.
As a Leo, it does seem like you should try it!
Woo hoo! My bottle and the one I used to split for the NST community was muled from Dubai via Suzan/shopfrance. It was a chance I took based on posts by Portia and cookiequeen. At worst, if I hated it, there are enough people who will be happy to take it off my hands. In any case, it was love at first sniff, smelling particularly of Coromandel and Dior Mitzah, with some Shalimar and Aftelier Vanilla Smoke extrait. I never got the leather, but I need to look for it the next time I wear it.
I owe my sample to you–thank you! I doubt I’d have been able to smell it for a long time, if not for you. I love your description of it, even if it plays a little differently on my skin.
Lovely text as always Angela, made me chuckle more than once! Also great timing: my free Le Lion sample arrived along with my no 19 about three hours ago – and I’ve yet to spray any on me, because shockingly, just the air around the tiny bottle clearly had Shalimar all over it! So I consulted the internet as soon as I had a moment and was just delighted to read this. Even so, look forward to smelling Le Lion more closely tomorrow ? if nothing else, a baby Shalimar can’t hurt.
Good timing on the review, then! I hope Le Lion didn’t mug No. 19–although she’s not the delicate flower she makes herself out to be.
Just sprayed this a few minutes ago. Very skanky, animalic opening. Now as it dries down I’m getting incense and a ton of leather. No vanilla in sight. Barely noticed any citrus. Very dry amber. I can tell I am going to need to layer some sweet or incensey lotion under this as it’s very austere on me.
Has it stayed austere? And barely any lemon? I love how fragrance can smell so different on different people.
Yes – very dry leather, no sweetness at all.